


The Gifts We Take

by Venivincere



Series: Gifts [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-17
Updated: 2014-12-17
Packaged: 2018-03-01 22:21:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2789792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Venivincere/pseuds/Venivincere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some gifts we get to take with us.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gifts We Take

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted as part of the Slash Advent Calendar located at: http://www.kardasi.com/Advent/2003 (now defunct) on December 10, 2003.
> 
> Betas: Villainny and DementorDelta, two emminently discerning ladies. My thanks for making this comprehensible!
> 
> Posted at Skyehawke here: http://archive.skyehawke.com/story.php?no=772 on January 5, 2004 after the fest.

Kissed by many tears, he was -- not always the ones that charge in runnels   
down the cheeks, but the kind that make the heart heave and sob in its casing,   
the kind that sink the bravest soul in despair. War did that to him. Yet still   
he had capacity for joy, set off with nothing more fancy or less mundane than a   
memory that was good. Professor Snape, in his efficiency, managed to give Harry   
just that, in a compact package: a fleet, golden snitch.  
  
It was a gift he could take. It fit in his pocket, and if he had ever   
thought of things in those terms, he would have called it a blessing. When so   
many dearer were left behind or destroyed in this war, this he could have with   
him -- and use it to invoke all the others with just a glance at its shining   
golden surface, the rubbing of a finger on its smooth-edged design, or the   
whispering of a half-unfurled wing stroking his wrist. This one small gift   
warmed his heart, and made a quiet joy well within him.  
  
Severus was sent to Harry's encampment a week after giving him the snitch and   
three days before Christmas. He arrived with Order news and a hastily-spelled   
Portkey to the gates of Hogwarts.  
  
"You are not, under  _any_  circumstances, to use this before tomorrow   
noon. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes." Harry fingered the snitch in his pocket, and it slipped out into his   
hand.   
  
"Also, do not Apparate anywhere until the all-clear. We still haven't caught   
the --"  
  
"I know. We covered it in Tactics tonight." Harry followed the Professor's   
eyes and saw that he was looking at the snitch. The memory flashed of Severus   
handing it over to him, unwrapped, in this same tent:   
  
 _" Dumbledore thought you should have a reminder of what you're fighting  
for. Something good. Especially at this time of year." Snape paused. "I   
thought so, too." He rolled the snitch over in his hand with his thumb, then   
handed it to Harry. "It was from your last game." He paused again. "You flew   
very well." Their eyes met, and that recent and particular something that was   
never voiced occurred between them again, and suddenly the air in the tent   
seemed close and humid._  
  
A quick intake of breath returned him to the present. "I haven't got --"   
Harry started. "I mean, I haven't been out of here all week -- I wanted to get   
you something, too, Professor..."   
  
Snape looked startled. "Mr. Potter, there is no need."   
  
"I know. I just --" His eyes darted to Snape and he was surprised to find   
him staring back intently, half-hopeful. He took a step closer to the   
Professor, and the slight hitch in Snape's breathing sent a tingle into his   
stomach.   
  
"I just wanted to give you something in return," Harry said. "A good thing.   
A reminder of something happy, too, and I -- I don't think I even know anything   
like that about you. Something happy, I mean." There was nothing, not from the   
first personal knowledge he ever discovered about Snape in his Occlumency   
lessons, not from anything revealed in the pensieve, nothing good at all from   
the awkward little chats over tea after Order meetings in the basement kitchen   
of 12 Grimmauld Place.   
  
Harry felt something in his chest clamp tight at the realization. He took   
another step closer, and then he was standing right before Snape in the bare-  
bones little tent, watching the faint glow of  _Lumos_  reflect from his   
eyes. "How can I not know of something good in your life?"   
  
To his utter surprise, Snape seized his shoulder. It took a moment before   
Harry was aware that he was not shaking him or pushing him away, just holding on   
\-- holding it and looking as though he wanted to say something but couldn't. He   
made a couple false starts, then:   
  
"Harry," he whispered. "I do have good things in my life. I have my   
friendships, though you don't see them. I have Hogwarts. I would have never   
had them had I not had a second chance. But the most important good thing I   
have is hope."   
  
The clamping in Harry's chest increased, and he moaned. "Hope! How can you?   
We're losing this war! Our troops are tired, and dwindling by the day. Our   
envoys have failed. I slog through this mess every day trying to liven people   
up, and they're grayer and more tired each time!"   
  
"And that is why I have it," said Snape. "You are out here every day,   
without fail. No matter what, they see you and you rally them, tired as they   
are."   
  
Harry stared, the snitch ready to fall out of his hand.   
  
"You give them that, and that gives me hope." Snape slid his hand down   
Harry's shoulder and curled Harry's fingers around the snitch. "I didn't think,   
Mr. Potter, when we first began your Occlumency lessons, that you would ever be   
able to do what you needed to do. I am more pleased than you could know to   
discover I was in error."   
  
"Professor..." Harry's other hand clasped over the one holding his. "I --   
thank you. For your confidence. For everything." And taking the chance he   
wasn't amiss, he leaned forward the rest of the distance, pressing their hands   
into his chest, and kissed Snape quickly on the lips.   
  
Snape colored plum, and stared at Harry. The corner of his mouth turned up,   
and finally, he found his voice. "And now I have another good thing." He   
pulled the tent flap aside to leave, and walked out with his fingers on his   
lips.   
  
And Harry realized Snape had given him another gift, hope, and that this   
time, he'd given one in return. Snape took with him Harry's kiss.   
  
~fin~


End file.
